CM dials Transport minister, expresses shock over Salt Lake road accident
Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday called up state Transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty from North Bengal and advocated for initiating a murder case against drivers whose rash driving or overtaking results in fatal accidents. Banerjee expressed shock over the accident at Salt Lake that killed a class IV school student on Tuesday and instructed Chakraborty to convene a meeting with all stakeholders to come out with guidelines for curbing accidents.
“As instructed by the Chief Minister, a meeting will be held at Nagarayan in Salt Lake on November 14 in the presence of state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim, Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar, Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma, heads of STUs, representatives from bus associations, truck association, auto unions, app-cab and bike-taxi associations and drivers’ representatives.
The Chief Minister has made it clear that there will be no mercy against a driver causing a fatal accident and the police will slap murder case against him,” Chakraborty said.
On Monday too, a state government bus was involved in a fatal accident in which two persons, including a civic volunteer, were killed.
Chakraborty added that Banerjee wants the state to take steps to ensure compliance with the ‘Safe Drive, Save Life’ guidelines and take stringent steps against reckless driving and overtaking. The Minister emphasised that while the ‘Safe Drive, Save Life’ campaign has significantly brought down accidents and Kolkata sees fewer accidents in comparison to most metro cities, there is no room for any complacency.
A total of 17 associations have been invited to attend the meeting. Joint Council of Bus Syndicate, General Secretary Tapan Banerjee said: “We will go to the meeting and submit our proposal. But infrastructure needs to be built.”
Titu Saha, general secretary of City Suburban Bus Services, stated: “We have been asked to join the meeting and we will actively participate. We want zero accidents and are committed to taking all possible steps within our capacity.”
